On Tuesday, the Canadiens unveiled the list of 59 players who will take part in the team’s training camp. Unsurprisingly, Lane Hutson is among them. For the defenseman, this will be a crucial step towards securing a spot with the Habs for the start of the season.
Except for some people, it seems almost obvious that he’ll earn a spot with the Habs.
Arpon Basu of The Athletic reported what Laval Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent had to say after Saturday’s Canadiens prospects game.
And let’s put it this way: Pascal Vincent really does sound like a guy who doesn’t expect to have to coach Lane Hutson in Laval.
Vincent is already comparing Hutson to established NHL players like Adam Fox.
What the Québécois head coach explained was that Hutson is the kind of player who is able to adapt to all levels of play, and who can benefit from the fact that his teammates stand out more quickly in the NHL.
Hutson’s defensive game has been criticized in recent days. On Monday, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports explained that he was still not convinced of Lane Hutson’s defensive game, and that he might well spend some time in Laval.
For Vincent, Hutson’s defensive game is not a problem. In his many years behind a hockey bench, he’s seen small-sided defensemen do just fine on defense.
He just believes that the secret is to adapt your game to your size, as Hutson does. It takes an excellent hockey IQ, which Hutson possesses.
Once again, you can tell from Vincent’s comments that he believes Hutson is already capable of making his mark in the NHL.
We can’t expect Hutson to become a defensive machine (especially not in his rookie year), but we can expect him to be able to adapt his game to retrieve pucks effectively.
The next few weeks will be crucial for the little defenseman, but we can confirm that he already seems to be in Pascal Vincent’s good graces.
